LISTEN TO MACKENZIE BARIS & NAVID NASR
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Mackenzie Baris (left) and Rosa Lozano (right) attempting to unfurl banner. (Image courtesy of Washington Post)
The Arizona Diamondbacks are slated to host the 2011 All-Star Game, but a growing number of individuals and groups are calling on Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bud Selig to move the game due to Arizona’s passage of the anti-immigrant legislation known as SB 1070. Sunday, August 15th, the Washington Nationals’ ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg took the mound against the Diamondbacks, but he was pulled before the start of the sixth inning after activists disrupted the game. Nationals’ manager Jim Riggleman told the Washington Post, “Once that stuff was going on, I decided I’m not going to throw him back out there.”
Mackenzie Baris and Navid Nasr were two of the individuals involved in the well-coordinated action which is part of a series of disruptions of Diamondback games. As she ran onto the field, Baris was tackled by a security guard before she was able to completely unfurl a banner which read, “Boycott Racism. Stop SB 1070. Move the Game.” As Baris was being tackled, Navid Nasr helped unfurl a banner in the stands which read, “Bud Selig, Move All Star Game. No SB 1070.”
